Mentor applications for the Study & Stay PEI program are now open! If you are a working professional and passionate about sharing your knowledge, skills, and experience with international students in Prince Edward Island, this volunteer opportunity is for you! You can now sign up at https://studypei.ca/.

As a mentor, you will

• meet with your assigned student four times between January and June 2023;
• share your knowledge, skills, advice, and connections;
• work one-on-one with your mentee to support their professional learning goals;
• give your mentee feedback on areas of strength and improvement;
• be open and responsive to questions related to working in the province;
• be available to support your student in their professional journey.

Meetings will typically last an hour and can be conducted in person (following the public health guidelines), online, or by phone.

If you enjoy spending time with international students while helping them better understand PEI's workplace culture, we would be lucky to have you sign up as a mentor today! Please contact us at studyandstaypei@upei.ca if you have any questions. Thank you!

Depending upon the work requirements of University departments, the Christmas holiday schedule will be in effect from December 24, 2022, through January 2, 2023, inclusive.  Office and regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

Payroll deadlines:

For the December 23 pay, the deadline for PTFs, pay changes, etc., is 12 noon on November 24. Electronic timesheets/overtime are due on December 12 at 10:00 a.m.

For the January 6 pay, the deadline for PTFs, pay changes, etc., is 12 noon on December 8. Electronic timesheets/overtime are due on January 3 at 10:00 a.m. 

For the January 20 pay, the deadline for PTFs, pay changes, etc., is 12 noon on December 23. Electronic timesheets/overtime are due on January 9.

Additional information regarding the Christmas holiday schedule can be found at MyUPEI.

UPEI is partnering with the Canada Games Host Society during the 2023 Canada Winter Games from February 18 to March 5, 2023, and they need volunteers! From scorekeepers and ushers to drivers and bloggers, it will take thousands of people working together to plan and support all the athletic and cultural events during the Games.  

UPEI has developed Guidelines for Volunteer Leave for the 2023 Canada Winter Games. UPEI employees who wish to volunteer are eligible to apply for up to 15 hours of paid time off to volunteer for the Games. To learn more and apply to be a volunteer, visit the 2023 Canada Winter Games Volunteer Portal.

The deadline for Animal Care Protocol Submissions--new, renewal, or amendment--is Friday, January 6, 2023, for the January meeting. Please note that the Animal Care Committee does not meet in December.

Please note that all animal user protocols must be submitted through UPEI Researcher Portal at https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/

For new protocols, select "applications" and for renewal or amendment protocols, select "events."

To view any UPEI ACC SOPs and Codes of Practice, go to https://portal.upei.ca/facultystaff/administrativeservices/AVCAnimalCare/Pages/default.aspx. 

Those protocols received after the deadline will be reviewed the following month. The committee requires at least one month for processing applications.

Overview: The Certificate in Customer and Client Service is designed to give the knowledge, skills, and tools for individuals to improve customer and client service within their organization. Not only are the benefits of improved customer and client service positive feelings and loyalty, but it also improves the workplace morale, which in turn leads to better production and results.

At the end of this certificate, participants will be able to elevate customer and client service both internally and externally within their organization, turn customer and client service failures into learning opportunities—which will lead to positives—and create a culture that will make great customer and client service consistent and a priority among all members of an organization.

Designed for: All people involved with customer and client service, both in a retail and a multi-level organizational sense.  Especially relevant for all executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals who deal with other people within their workplace.

Type of Delivery: In-person.

Duration: One day (six hours)

Facilitator: Tracy Stretch

For more information and to register, go to https://www.upei.ca/professional-development/certificates/customer-and-client-service.  

NOTE: an earlier version of this notice listed the price as $99. The actual cost is $499. Sorry for any confusion. 

In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to apply various Deep Learning (DL) techniques to biomedical signal data using MATLAB. You will discover tools and fundamental approaches for developing advanced predictive models. We will cover the complete AI pipeline from signal exploration to AI modeling to deployment. You will write code and use MATLAB Online to annotate time series biomedical signals automatically; apply advanced signal pre-processing techniques for feature extraction; train deep learning models using CNNs and LSTMs; and discuss interoperability with Python frameworks.

For details and registration, go to https://mathworksmeeting.webex.com/mathworksmeeting/j.php?RGID=r49ad4fdde12a8a302f063881166c5236 

Overview: This course will review the basics of fundraising and sponsorship and give participants the tools and knowledge to lead a successful fundraising campaign. The material will be presented through various lectures, media, and interactive polling and discussion, followed by breakout sessions and group discussions. For more information, go to https://files.upei.ca/professionaldevelopment/upei_pd_successful_fundraising_and_sponsorship.pdf

Designed for: People who are required to fundraise and/or obtain sponsorships for their place of employment or a local volunteer organization

Type of Delivery: In-person

Duration: One course for six (6) hours.

Facilitators: Lee Gallant

You probably use reminders on your iPhone all the time, but DYKT you can add attachments to a reminder so you can keep everything related to a task in one place? For example, if you are going to an appointment and need a document for it, you can add it to your reminder. 

To add an attachment, hit the camera icon on the bottom bar of the Reminders app. You can choose from your library, take a new photo, or scan a document.

Mentor applications for the Study & Stay PEI program are now open! If you are a working professional and passionate about sharing your knowledge, skills, and experience with international students in Prince Edward Island, this volunteer opportunity is for you! You can now sign up at https://studypei.ca/.

As a mentor, you will

• meet with your assigned student four times between January and June 2023;
• share your knowledge, skills, advice, and connections;
• work one-on-one with your mentee to support their professional learning goals;
• give your mentee feedback on areas of strength and improvement;
• be open and responsive to questions related to working in the province;
• be available to support your student in their professional journey.

Meetings will typically last an hour and can be conducted in person (following the public health guidelines), online, or by phone.

If you enjoy spending time with international students while helping them better understand PEI's workplace culture, we would be lucky to have you sign up as a mentor today! Please contact us at studyandstaypei@upei.ca if you have any questions. Thank you!

ITSS will be closed for a staff meeting on Tuesday, November 8, from 2 pm until the end of the day.

You can still email helpdesk@upei or leave a message at 902-566-0465, and your request will be logged and dealt with the following day.

We thank you for your understanding.

The ITSS team

A memorial service in honour of F. Alan Reesor, faculty member in the UPEI Department of Music from 1970–1997, will be held at St. Peter's Cathedral on Rochford Street in Charlottetown, on Sunday, November 13, 2022, at 2:30 pm. Alan forged an international reputation as an organist, choral director, and musicologist and was awarded the title of professor emeritus at UPEI in 1998. A variety of Alan’s friends, colleagues, and former students will gather to perform and pay tribute to his remarkable legacy of music and the far-reaching impact he had on the lives of so many people. Those unable to attend in person may watch the event through live-streaming at
https://www.youtube.com/cha.../UCDFzXrCQaxe7cj-XFaYSPIQ/live

An initial list of potential 2022-23 George Coles Bursary recipients will be sent to PEI Student Financial Services for review on Thursday, November 10, 2022. To be included in this initial review, eligible students must ensure that

• their Social Insurance Number is on file at UPEI;
• they are registered in full-time studies in both the 2022 Fall and 2023 Winter terms, as of November 10th, 2022 (unless they are graduating in the 2022-23 academic year). Please note that only registered courses count toward student load. Waitlisted courses do not count; 
• if they are graduating in the 2022-23 academic year, they have applied to graduate prior to November 10, 2022.

Approved recipients will have funding applied to their student account in the 2023 Winter term. Any questions relating to this message or the George Coles Bursary can be directed to scholarships@upei.ca.

The UPEI Department of Music will present a faculty recital, "Autumn Colours," featuring string players Jeffrey Bazett-Jones (viola), Sean Kemp (violin), and Natalie Williams Calhoun (cello); Magdalena von Eccher (piano); and Karem Simon (clarinet) presenting music by Mozart, Stravinsky, and Brahms. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for students and may be purchased at the admissions desk.

The deadline for Animal Care Protocol Submissions--new, renewal, or amendment--is Friday, January 6, 2023, for the January meeting. Please note that the Animal Care Committee does not meet in December.

Please note that all animal user protocols must be submitted through UPEI Researcher Portal at https://upei.researchservicesoffice.com/Romeo.Researcher/

For new protocols, select "applications" and for renewal or amendment protocols, select "events."

To view any UPEI ACC SOPs and Codes of Practice, go to https://portal.upei.ca/facultystaff/administrativeservices/AVCAnimalCare/Pages/default.aspx. 

Those protocols received after the deadline will be reviewed the following month. The committee requires at least one month for processing applications.

Dr. Ed MacDonald, professor of history, will give a public lecture titled "Enshrined: Island Tourism and the Confederation Story" on November 15 at 7 pm in the Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building. For over a century, the three staple constants in Prince Edward Island tourism have been our pastoral landscape, Anne of Green Gables, and the Island's claim as the "Birthplace of Confederation." But becoming the "Cradle of Confederation" was not as easy as it sounds, and the story of how Island tourism promoters recognized the tourism potential of that claim and then gradually convinced Canadians that it was both true and important presents a fascinating case study of "site sacralization" and branding in Canada's Garden Province. For this lecture, Dr. MacDonald will draw upon research conducted by him and his co-author, Dr. Alan MacEachern, for their new book, The Summer Trade: A History of Tourism on Prince Edward Island.

All are welcome to attend.

This is a hands-on introductory workshop focused on fostering best practices for data organization in spreadsheets. Participants will learn how to organize their data to prioritize clarity, reproducibility, and interoperability, such that they can seamlessly load their data later into an analysis program. The spreadsheet programs covered will be Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. The examples explored will be from the field of Social Sciences, but the principles are relevant for any discipline that collects data in spreadsheets. No previous experience with spreadsheets or programming is required.

For details and registration, go to https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/acenet-hss-working-with-data-series-introduction-to-spreadsheets-tickets-427314207297

Overview: This course will review the basics of being on a board, whether it’s a for-profit or non-profit organization. Content will be reviewed through lectures, videos, and other media, and that information will be used during practical group work. By the end of this course, participants will be able to walk into a board meeting with a great deal of knowledge of prior rules, roles, and etiquette. For more information, go to https://files.upei.ca/professionaldevelopment/upeI_pd_board_member_basics.pdf. 

Designed for: People who are on a board of directors, or employees who are employed by a board of directors

Type of Delivery: In-person

Duration: One course for six (6) hours

Facilitators: Lee Gallant 

ITSS will be closed for a staff meeting on Tuesday, November 8, from 2 pm until the end of the day.

You can still email helpdesk@upei or leave a message at 902-566-0465, and your request will be logged and dealt with the following day.

We thank you for your understanding.

The ITSS team

Thank you to everyone who participated in the UPEI Graduate Studies Research Conference and the UPEI Undergraduate Research Days.  It was a great success. 

The winners of the UPEI Graduate Research Conference presentations were:

Michael Kozma – 1st place

Michael Ampong – 2nd place

Mariana Fonseca – 3rd place

The winners of the UPEI Undergraduate Research Days presentations were:

Vidya Singh – 1st place

Bashar Hakeem – 2nd place

Corey Collett – 3rd place

• Are you a current UPEI graduate student?
• Do you work with biohazardous material as part of your research?
• Do you want to contribute to the research community and biosafety at UPEI?
• Would you like to gain valuable experience (looks great on a CV!) and be the student voice on a committee composed of UPEI Faculty and staff?

The UPEI Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) is seeking a volunteer graduate student member to join the IBC for a two-year term! The IBC meets monthly to review biosafety permit applications and discuss other issues related to biosafety on campus.

For more information about this exciting opportunity or to express your interest, please contact Stephanie Palmer, Research Compliance Coordinator, at scpalmer@upei.ca by Friday, November 18.

Please pass on this information to anyone who might be interested!